Commission condemns Russian travel bans on EU officials

The European Commission condemned on Tuesday (3 March) Russia’s refusal to allow senior officials from Poland and Latvia, including an MEP, to enter the country to attend the funeral of murdered opposition politician Boris Nemtsov.

?Latvian MEP Sandra Kalniete and Poland’s senate speaker Bogdan Borusewicz were stopped from entering Russia. Nemtsov was gunned down in Moscow last week and his funeral was held today.

“We regret is not the first time we see refusals for apparently arbitrary reasons,” European Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said in response to a question from EURACTIV.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz also voiced his concerns.

“The travel restrictions by Russia on selected European individuals are being applied without the slightest element of reasoning or any forewarning of their application or who they apply to. This contrasts very starkly with the way that the EU travel restrictions on Russian citizens have been applied,” Schulz said.

As in Russia and In North Korean your not allowed to be “invited” on political opponent’s funeral! ITake the example of Kim Jung Un’s uncle : We still don’t know anyone besides the dogs who has been invited to it’s funeral! All this for arbitrary reasons !

It is hyprocritical for Poland and Latvia to protest because they themselves are at the forefront of anti-Russian hysteria.

The EU and the US started this by banning certain Russians from entering US and EU and now Russia has the right to do the same back. You get what you hand out – stupid to expect anything else and more stupid and dishonest to pretend that these bans were just unilateral and have no history.

The EU needs to have its own foreign policy , not to accept without question that ordered by Washington . The US governent has made itself Geopolitical World Enemy No.1, stiring up trouble everywhere , which the EU doesn’t need to be a pat of . EU sanctions against Russia , together with Russian sanctions against the EU , have proved extremely expensive for many EU member states, detrimental to the EU tradeblock economy already in dire straights . Europe does not need to be at logaheads with Russia , we have moved on from the cold war . Ukraine is not worth the conflict .

How can such a diverse group of Nations many of whom are former Soviet Satellite countries agree on a common strategy on a regular basis? With regard to the US, that is like saying you shouldn’t do what the Police say anymore. I think with the AIIB it is clear the worlds major powers are not tied to US foreign policy but don’t be saying Russia is a good neighbour, we are still feeling the effects of Russian foreign policy from the 1980’s when it invaded Afghanistan, a fire that is still raging across the Islamic world. Russia lit the fire & we are still trying to put it out.

Joe Thorpe
I don’t see any relationship between Russia in Afganistan and the US . The US didn’t go to finish what Russia failed to do , it went there to find Bin Laden . In so doing it has had to cope with the same problems that effectively defeated the Russians . The US NATO project in Afganistan ha failed too .